了解“残奥会”：the Paralympic Games

A man watches between Fu Niu Leles, the official mascot¹ of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, during a launching ceremony at the foot of the Great Wall's Badaling section, in Beijing September 6, 2006. Lele is unveiled Wednesday night to mark the two-year countdown to the opening of the Paralympic Games.

相对于“奥运会”，了解“残奥会”的人并不多。“残奥会”原是为“脊髓病患者”举行的运动会，由图片可知，其相应的英文表达是：the Paralympic Games。很明显，paralympic由词缀para-（在……一旁，在……旁边）和-(O)lympic（奥林匹克）合成而来，它延续了奥林匹克团结友爱、公平竞争的精神，同时又充分表达了奥运会和残奥会平等共存的关系。

另外，再顺便再复习两个早先学过的单词：countdown（倒计时）；mascot（吉祥物）。